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The Cambridge History of the Second World War #1
The Cambridge History of the Second World War, Volume I: Fighting the War
The military events of the Second World War have been the subject of historical debate from 1945 to the present. It mattered greatly who won, and fighting was the essential determinant of victory or defeat. In Volume 1 of The Cambridge History of the Second World War a team of twenty-five leading historians offer a comprehensive and authoritative new account of the war's military and strategic history. Part I examines the military cultures and strategic objectives of the eight major powers involved. Part II surveys the course of the war in its key theatres across the world, and assesses why one side or the other prevailed there. Part III considers, in a comparative way, key aspects of military activity, including planning, intelligence, and organisation of troops and matérial, as well as guerrilla fighting and treatment of prisoners of war.
675 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2015
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About the author
John Robert Ferris
4 books3 followersJohn Robert Ferris is Professor of History at the University of Calgary.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 10, 2020
The first volume of the Cambridge History of Second World War deals with the “war-fighting” aspects of the conflict. It is divided into three parts.
Part I assesses the grand strategies and strategic cultures of the eight major belligerent nations. It examines what those countries attempted to do militarily during the war, how they expected to achieve those goals, and how these matters related to national organizations and traditions.
Part II presents the “campaign narrative”, and deals with the fighting across the years of WWII. Generally, this part assesses the war at both strategic and operational levels from competitive and comparative perspectives.
The third part of the volume examines the military institutions and instruments featured in the war, from the planning of campaigns to the treatment of prisoners.
This volume happened – (un)fortunately– to be my introduction to WWII, the most complex event of the twentieth century.
The book has more pros than cons, but for me those cons were hard to overlook.
My main problem was the (lack of) chronological order. As I already mentioned, the volumes is arranged according to topic, not chronology, and that – together with the immense amount of information – makes the narrative even more jumbled. Indeed, if one is well familiar with the sequence of WWII events, this won’t be such a big deal, but for me, whose knowledge of that complex event was limited to the two lessons from my textbook, it was more than confusing.
Conclusion: do not pick up this book if you are a newbie.
Indeed, as the authors themselves admit, the whole three-volume project is quite ambitious, especially considering the enormous amount of diverse information they have tried to cram in each of the volumes. The details they have included are important and probably wouldn’t have fitted into a less comprehensive volume. What the authors failed to achieve, however, is a proper, clear organization of the myriad details; they are presentation follows no particular chronological or topical pattern, and the narrative confusingly jumps back and forth in time.
Of course, the volume has a lot of pros too. The narrative as a whole is interesting and stylistically well-written. There are also maps, which make the understanding of the different military campaigns much easier.
In general, if you are in the beginning of your WWII studying, The Cambridge History vol.1 will serve rather as a detail-packed complement than a convenient, informative, chronologically organized source. In the prologue, the authors promise an immensely detailed narrative covering a lot of subjects, and that’s exactly what they deliver.
Part I assesses the grand strategies and strategic cultures of the eight major belligerent nations. It examines what those countries attempted to do militarily during the war, how they expected to achieve those goals, and how these matters related to national organizations and traditions.
Part II presents the “campaign narrative”, and deals with the fighting across the years of WWII. Generally, this part assesses the war at both strategic and operational levels from competitive and comparative perspectives.
The third part of the volume examines the military institutions and instruments featured in the war, from the planning of campaigns to the treatment of prisoners.
This volume happened – (un)fortunately– to be my introduction to WWII, the most complex event of the twentieth century.
The book has more pros than cons, but for me those cons were hard to overlook.
My main problem was the (lack of) chronological order. As I already mentioned, the volumes is arranged according to topic, not chronology, and that – together with the immense amount of information – makes the narrative even more jumbled. Indeed, if one is well familiar with the sequence of WWII events, this won’t be such a big deal, but for me, whose knowledge of that complex event was limited to the two lessons from my textbook, it was more than confusing.
Conclusion: do not pick up this book if you are a newbie.
Indeed, as the authors themselves admit, the whole three-volume project is quite ambitious, especially considering the enormous amount of diverse information they have tried to cram in each of the volumes. The details they have included are important and probably wouldn’t have fitted into a less comprehensive volume. What the authors failed to achieve, however, is a proper, clear organization of the myriad details; they are presentation follows no particular chronological or topical pattern, and the narrative confusingly jumps back and forth in time.
Of course, the volume has a lot of pros too. The narrative as a whole is interesting and stylistically well-written. There are also maps, which make the understanding of the different military campaigns much easier.
In general, if you are in the beginning of your WWII studying, The Cambridge History vol.1 will serve rather as a detail-packed complement than a convenient, informative, chronologically organized source. In the prologue, the authors promise an immensely detailed narrative covering a lot of subjects, and that’s exactly what they deliver.
October 7, 2024
What is there to say about WW2 that hasn't been said before? Given the thousands of books published every year on the subject, the mass influence on modern culture such as video games, documentaries, miniature wargames, and its political effects on certain nations (1940 and Dunkirk in Britain for example), and the fact that never a night goes by without some programme on TV about Hitler, is there anything new to say on the subject?
Yes, yes, and thrice yes!
As somebody who has studied WW2 for decades, and has a excellent working knowledge of the subject, I approached this tome with reluctance. Thankfully, it was well worth it.
The essays on grand strategy of the various nations are excellent. The later chapters on subjects such as POWs, partisans, logistics and combat power, are fresh and insightful. Even the broad-brush essays on the various theatres of war add something new to the conversation.
This is not a book for those without prior knowledge of the subject - such readers would be best served elsewhere (Anthony Beevor's general overview of WW2 for example) but for those looking for something beyond pure dates of battles, this is well worth the money and well worth the time.
Yes, yes, and thrice yes!
As somebody who has studied WW2 for decades, and has a excellent working knowledge of the subject, I approached this tome with reluctance. Thankfully, it was well worth it.
The essays on grand strategy of the various nations are excellent. The later chapters on subjects such as POWs, partisans, logistics and combat power, are fresh and insightful. Even the broad-brush essays on the various theatres of war add something new to the conversation.
This is not a book for those without prior knowledge of the subject - such readers would be best served elsewhere (Anthony Beevor's general overview of WW2 for example) but for those looking for something beyond pure dates of battles, this is well worth the money and well worth the time.
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